Offseason Approach

Sign Myles Turner and run it back

Actual Cap Space

-$62.5 million

Practical Cap Space

-$63.1 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

$19.9 million

Under Contract (11)

RayJ Dennis (two-way)
Johnny Furphy
Tyrese Haliburton
Bennedict Mathurin
T.J. McConnell
Andrew Nembhard
Aaron Nesmith
Ben Sheppard
Pascal Siakam
Obi Toppin
Jarace Walker

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (7)

Tony Bradley (unrestricted – team option)
Thomas Bryant (unrestricted)
Enrique Freeman (restricted – two-way)
Isaiah Jackson (restricted)
Quenton Jackson (restricted – two-way)
James Johnson (unrestricted)
Myles Turner (unrestricted)

View Free Agents

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Taxpayer MLE ($5.7 million)

Notable Trade Exceptions

None

First Round Draft Pick

#23

Notable Extension Candidates

Bennedict Mathurin (rookie scale extension)
Aaron Nesmith (veteran extension – as of October 1)

Analysis

The Indiana Pacers were right there. If Tyrese Haliburton doesn’t tear his Achilles’ seven minutes into Game 7, Indianapolis might have hosted a championship parade. As it is, we’ll never know. But what shouldn’t get lost is what a fun, magical ride the Pacers took all of us on in these playoffs.

And there’s no reason the fun can’t continue for Indiana.

Yes, the Pacers will be without Tyrese Haliburton next season. That’s a brutal blow for one of the league’s best point guards and the conductor of the NBA’s most fun offense. But Indiana has plenty of depth to weather that injury and still be a really good team.

Free agency is pretty simple for Indiana. It’s all about re-signing Myles Turner. After a decade of trade rumors, Turner is still with the only NBA team he’s ever known. The Pacers have indicated that they’ll go into the luxury tax to keep their starting center.

The real question doesn’t seem to be if Turner will be back in Indiana. It’s how much will it cost the Pacers? Despite struggling in the NBA Finals, Turner is coming off a really strong season. He’ll turn 30 years old next season, but Turner is showing no signs of slowing down, and his game should age fine.

The Pacers are roughly $20 million under the luxury tax line and $28 million under the first apron. That’s with 11 players on the roster. If we pencil in minimum contracts for the final few roster spots, the Pacers will be $13 million under the tax and $21.1 million under the first apron before re-signing Turner.

Turner isn’t likely to re-sign for anything under $25 million a year, but he may not push much north of $30 million AAV either. The way the Pacers can probably keep costs down some is by offering Turner a fifth year, which no other team can match. Would five years and $125 million be enough? If so, that’s probably a good deal for both sides.

Beyond bringing back Turner, the Pacers offseason should be relatively uneventful. They traded this year’s first-round pick to get back next year’s first-rounder. That gives Indiana some savings in the immediate, and a relatively young roster doesn’t really need another player jumping in the mix next season.

The Pacers will probably apply for a $14.1 million Disabled Player Exception for Haliburton, but that’s more about having that tool in the toolbox in case you need it down the line. Given the looming first-apron status, and the few open roster spots, Indiana probably won’t be a real player in free agency.

There’s a good chance that either, or maybe both, of Tony Bradley and Thomas Bryant are back next season. The two paired together to give Rick Carlisle pretty good minutes behind Turner. For minimum deals, it makes sense to keep at least one of the backup centers, if not both of them.

Isaiah Jackson’s status is likely tied to his health after his own early-season torn Achilles’. If Jackson is recovering well, the Pacers could probably get him back on a fairly reasonable contract, given they can make him a restricted free agent. This might be a one-year, prove-it deal, where Jackson shows he’s healthy and Indiana uses his Bird rights in 2026 to sign him long-term.

If James Johnson wants to come back, his spot in the locker room and on the bench will be there for him.

Enrique Freeman is worth working with on another two-way deal. He has real potential. Quenton Jackson has one more year of two-way eligibility and the Pacers seem to like him. He could be back for one more run too.

As far as extensions go, Indiana will want to try to get one hammered out with Bennedict Mathurin. He’s still somewhat inconsistent, but Mathurin’s scoring is needed. The real question is if he’s going to push for a starting spot. That may be there next season, with Haliburton out, but starting long-term might not be in Mathurin’s future in Indiana.

That will impact extension talks to some degree. An extension in the range of $100 million over five years makes sense for Indiana. That protects the team if Mathurin doesn’t graduate beyond being a sixth man, albeit a very good one.

It could be too team-friendly for the young guard, however. Mathurin may need more than $20 million AAV. Indiana has to be careful here. Locking in too much money long-term could see them butting up against the second apron in the future. That’s not where they want to be.

If worse comes to worse, the Pacers and Mathurin can let things play out to restricted free agency in 2026. By then, both sides should have a clearer picture of where things are at for both the team and the player.

Aaron Nesmith is also extension-eligible this summer. His situation is a little weird, as his contract isn’t really big enough to extend off at any kind of sizable number. On the flip side, Nesmith isn’t likely to command a huge extension either. He’s a very good role player for the Pacers as a 3&D guy, but he’s not pushing any kind of major salary either. Nesmith and Indiana will probably delay this conversation and readdress it next summer.

There’s no other way to put it but that it sucks that the Indiana Pacers won’t have Tyrese Haliburton next season. But this is a deep team, especially at point guard. The Pacers will re-sign Myles Turner and they’ll get back after it. If the 2025 NBA Playoffs didn’t teach us the lesson, Indiana will be more than happy to remind us to count them out at our own risk.